Detonating mechanism



June 30, 1925.

E. E. WINKLEY DETONATIING MECHANISM Filed May 6, 1918 Patented .lune 3G, i925.

DETONATING MECHANISM.

Appiication ined May e,

To all whom t may concern: Y

Be it known that I, ErLAsTUs E. VINKLEY, a citizen of theI United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of lvfassachusett-s, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Detonating Mechanisms; and I do hereby decla-re the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art` to which it appertains to make and use the same.

f The present invention relates to animprovement in detonating mechanisms,

It has heretofore been proposed Yto proT vide a self-controlled vehicle carrying ja charge of explosive mixture with a detonating mechanism which will act automatically to detonate the chargewhen the vehicle has reached a predetermined point. Certain types of these detonating mechanisms have been so constructed that their parts have not been operatively positioned to perform the detonating function until tlre vehicle provided with the detonating mechanism has been in travel for a predetermined length of time. rl`liis length of time is usually estimated to be sufficient for the vehicle topass out from the friendly territory from which the vehicle is launched,-and into the enemy territory toward which the vehicle is directed on its errand of destruction. These vehicles are subject to enemy fire, and consequently are liable to be disabled or destroyed before reaching their destination. So likewise, they may be disabled before the detonating mechanism, with which they are provided, is in condition to cause an explosion of the charge of explosive mixture they carry. In this case it is desirable that the charge of explosive mixture be detonated Y when the vehicleis disabled, `on the chance that it is then in enemy territo-ry. f f

Accordingly it is proposed by the present invention to provide a novel form ofI detnating mechanismV `of such construction and arrangement of parts that when a vehcle to which the detonating mechanism is applied is subjected to enemy fire, and a vital part of the vehicle is struck, for example,

the rudder, propeller, or the engine, thev deti918'. serial No.' 232,991'.

onating mechanism will be actuated to detonate the charge of explosive mixture carried by the vehicle. -An essential part Vof this novel detonating mechanism is a. covering member adapted to be applied in any convenient form to theexterior surface of the rudder, the propeller and the parts of the vehicle enclosing the engine, or such other vital mechanisms, so as t0 be interposed between the vital mechanism and the enemy gun fire. This covering member is so constructed that when a bullet, whether ,from an aerial gun, a rifle, or a machine gun penetratesv it, vor any other extraneous v-forces disturbs or destroys its normal condition, rthe-other parts of the detonating mechanism will Ibe actuated to perform the fdeton-ating function. The improved detolnating'mechanism of the present invention ,is particularly pointed out in the appended claims, andaspecific embodiment thereof is described in the following specification.

The several features of the present invention will be readily understood fromthe following description and accompanying drawings in'which Fig. l is a side elevation of the rudder end of a rudder controlled vehicle having the improved detonating mechanism applied thereto, which mechanism is illustrated diagrammatically.

The improved detonating mechanism of the lpresent invention is so constructed that in the event that the normal condition of the covering member is not destroyed or impaired, as by being penetrated' by an enemy bullet, during the travel of the vehicle to its point of destination, the mechanism will continue in its normal o-r inactive condition and the other parts of the detonating mechanism will be ineffective upon the charge of explosive mixture. In addition to the detonating` mechanism' of the present invention, the vehicle will of course be provided with any usual or preferred forml of detonating mechanism for the purpose of vdetonating. the charge of explosive mixture when the vehicle reaches its point of destination, in case it does not encounter or is not struck by the enemy fire. The detonating mechanism of the present invention comprises a hammer. 5 anda trigger 6 for driving the hammer into the fuse ofthe charge of ex-y plosive mixture Awhen the. state or condition of the covering member is changed.V The hammer 5 is mounted to slide vertically in a boss 7 carried by a casing 8 conveniently secured to the vehicle below' ,theV explosive mixture. The trigger 6 is mounted to slide vertically in a boss 9 formed in the bottomv of the casing 8 and:v is provided: with ai spring 10 interposed between the boss. 9V and the head 11. of the trigger. In the drawing' the hammer 5 and thetrigger 6V are shown as constitutingseparate parts. This is simply for the sake of convenience of construction, inasmuchV as they may be made as a Vsingle member. So long' as no part ofthe vehicle covered by the covering'y member of the im-y proved detonating Ymechanism has been l struck bythe enemy gun fire, thefhead 11 energized by a battery 17 lplaced in a Vciri cuit 18 formed by a continuons electric Wire 2O attached to a fabric or some otherA pliable sheet material 21 in such manner that both the sheet material 21 and the wire 20V constitute the covering member. The electric wire is folded upon itself in'such manner that the folds thereof are less thanvthe thickness of a rifle or machine gun bullet apart. The wire 2O is shown as pla-ited, as it would be if it were` woven into the fabric or sheet material as a weft thread, but itY may,y ofV Course, be folded. upon itselfin any other coi'ivenieni;v manner, asV in yconvolutions or. involutions.l The coveringmemberis shown as extending partly onto? the `rearend of the vehicle 22 and partly onto'th'e rudder 24, thereby covering, over the hinge connections 25 and their adjacent parts and thus being interposed (between these parts, which are vital to the progress of thevehicle, andthe enemy gun fire. The rear-f end of the rudder will not be covered, because it is `obvious that itmay be perforated without seriously impai'ring the operativene'ss of the rudder. 'Itawillv be apparent thatthe covering member may be as readilyapplied to other portions of the vehicle, so as tobe interposed lbetween* the vital"V parts of thegvehicle and 'the lenemy fire.rv

Y 'I he circuit 18j formed by the electric wire '20".Willinormally' be closed, so that the Solenoid 1dL will` be energized by the battery 17 Y to 4hold the armature 15 in such position as to normally keep ther spring 10 under com- If now one of the folds of the pression. electric Wire 2O is severed by a bullet, 'the circuit will be broken so that the battery V17 willyno longer energize the solenoid 16. Thereupon, the armature 15 being free to Inlove, the spring 10 will act to'drive the are'actuate'd to perform the detonating function. It will be understood that V.this feature ofthe in'ventioneisY not limited to the s l :cific covering' member'shown and describe i, `and the devices directlyconnectedvvithit, inasmuch as the` coverin member and thedevices controlledjby 1t vto actuatethe hammer .may be any one of many equivalent structures Whichwill operate,1upon ardisturbance of their normalconditionby anextraneous force, toactuat'eithehammer or.

other Adevice used to. ignitethe fuse ofthe charge of explosive mixture.- ,Y

Having thus vdescribed lthe invention, what is claimed asV new, isi-' 1. A detonating mechanism for vehicles comprising a hammer, means normally held actuating means in such mannerthat when in condition vto actuate the hammer,` and' acovering lmemberadapted for application' n to'surfaces of 'the' vehicle subject tothe Y action of extraneous force, said .covering .member being connected with the hammer lo? K a normal condition of a component part of the covering Y' member is destroyed .by the action o-fV extraneous force, the/hammer actuating means is permitted to K perform vits hammer actuating fu-notion.

2Q A .detonating mechanism `forvehicles i comprising a-covering rmember consistlng of asheet of pliable material adapted to be apmally closed circuit, said wire being folded upon itself inV such manner fthatythe folds thereof are lessthan a bullet thickness apart, av solenoid inthe circuit, and a hammerkarranged to. be actuated by the armature of the solenoid when the circuitv is broken.

. SVA detonating mechanismfor vehicles f.

covering memberandoperativefto aetuate the y" hammer when the, @offering members. penetrated@ plied tothe vehicle land VIhaving attached 115 fthereto an electric wire constituting a nor- 1,543,895 i a B 4. A detonating mechanism for vehicles said covering member acting to permit the comprising means for detonating an eXplcactuating means to actuate the d-'etonating sive mixture; means for actuating the Clemeans when the covering member has been 10 tonating means; and a covering member conpenetrated by an obj ect making a hole there- 5 nected with the actuating means and adapted in as large as a bullet hole.

for application to surfaces of the Vehicle subject to the action of extraneous force, ERASTUS E. WINKLEY. 

